Writer defends Happy Valley scenes

Happy Valley writer Sally Wainwright has rejected suggestions that the drama contained "gratuitous violence" - saying it was nothing like The Fall.

Sally, who also penned Last Tango In Halifax, is hoping to get signed up for a second series of the gritty BBC One drama starring Sarah Lancashire, and already has "tentative ideas" for a new instalment.

Another BBC drama, The Fall, starring Gillian Anderson, was criticised for its graphic depictions of sexual murder.

Sally told RadioTimes.com: "I did watch The Fall and I think Happy Valley is very different. Titillation is when it's beautifully lit and when you linger on things for a long time as they did in The Fall."

She added: "People who criticise Happy Valley for being gratuitous are naive because I think we did it very responsibly."

She added: "Gratuitous violence is what you see on video games, Game Of Thrones or - from what I've heard - things like Luther.

"There, you don't even know who the victim is and it's just a body on a slab in a morgue. The violence in Happy Valley was about women who we knew and cared for. And that was the whole point."